Motor control



Oct. 30, 1945. R LE AN 2,387,799

MOTOR CONTROL Fileii April 3, 1944 INVENTOR IQOBEIQT Mr- LLZA/YD 5am M my 9 4., HIS I 7 ATTORNEYS 7 end surface of Patented on. so, 1945 MOTOR CONTROL Robert William Leland. Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, corporation of Delaware Detroit, Mich, I

Application April 3, 1944 Serial No. 529,249

4 cam. (or. 172-239) This invention relates to improvements in electrically operated load lifting devices and their controls.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a load lifting device having an electric motor as prime mover for a work shaft which, when the electric motor is inactive, is disconnected therefrom and held against rotation but which, when the motor is energized, is operatively connected to the motor so as to be rotated thereby.

A further object of the present invention is to provide control mechanism for a load liftin device comprising a work shaft driven by an electric motor and electromagnet clutch, said mechanism, in one instance, connecting a source of electric power with the electric motor and electromagnet clutch to effect motor operation as a powerful series motor and connection with the work shaft for driving said shaft in the load lifting direction, and in another instance to eilect motor operation as a shunt motor and connection with the work shaft for driving it in the load lowering direction.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing, which comprises a single view diagrammatically illustrating the present invention, the electric motor is designated by the mtmeral 20. This motor has an armature circuit and also two field windings, one winding being designated by the numeral 2!, the other by the numeral 22. The motor. shaft 23 has a driving disc 24 secured therein in any suitable manner.

The shaft to be driven is shown as a screw shaft 25 having a traveling nut 26 threadedly engaging it. This not is adapted to support the load to be raised and lowered by the device. The load, not shown by the present drawing, may be of any suitable nature, as'for instance the landing gear of an airplane or the bomb-bay doors of a military bombing plane.

Shaft 25 has a coupling member 36 secured thereto by a pin 31? so that the coupling member and shaft must rotate together, butthe coupling member may move longitudinally relatively to the shaft. The arrangement is such that the outer the coupling member coaxially aligns with and is in juxtaposition to the drivin disc 24. Any suitable spring 32 exerts a force to urge the coupling member 30 away from the drivtion or brake ring 33 so as normally to hold the shaft 25 against rotation particmariy when the traveling nut 26 is at the end of shaft 25 adjacent the coupling 30 and the load on the nut tends to exert a. iorce to turn the shaft 25 through nut 25.

An electromagnetic clutch is shown comprising a magnet winding so which, when in circuit with the source of power, energizes the driving disc 24 to magnetize it whereby the coupling mcmber 30 will be attracted to move from the brake ring 33 into operative engagement with the dnving disc. rm the apparatus as illustrated, winding to is shown to consist of two sections Bi and 42, con nected in series by the juncture Hit, the section M being oi heavy wire and the section c2 of a comparatively lighter wire so that the latter oifers greater resistance to current flow than section ti. Thisis done to assure a constant clutch efiect when the motor is functioning as a series motor or as a shunt motor tor, when acting as a series motor, the held it is connected in series with the entire winding it, however, when acting as a shunt motor, both fields 2i and 22 are connected in series with only the section M of winding 40, section t2 being out of circuit under this circumstance to compensate for the resistance oifered by both motor fields. This maintains the clutching effect or the magnetic clutch substantiaiiy constant under both conditions. Under some circumstances winding to may be wound of one size wire and at other times sections 4i and 42 thereoi may be of the same or diflerent sized wire, but of a difierent number of convolutions respectively.

Two circuit controlling devices and to control the operation of the electric motor, these circult controlling devices being rendered eiifective by the operation oi a selector switch It connected in circuit with a source of electric power shown to be a storage battery 8%.

The control device til is an electromagnet switch having a solenoid. armature carrying bridging contacts 52 and 53. A solenoid magnet winding 54, when energized, moves the solenoid magnet it from normal circuit open position into a circuit closing position in which bridging element 52 of the switch engages contacts 55 and 56, and bridging element 53 engages contacts 5'! and E8. The similar circuit control device has a solenoid magnet ti provided with a winding 64 for moving it into circuit closingposition' whereby bridging element 62 engages stationary contacts and 88 and bridging element 63 engages stationary contacts 5! and 68.

The selector switch l0 may be moved into en- 1118 disc 3 gripping engagement with a m 65 gagement with the stationary contact H to conalso fiow from thefleld nect the storage battery 89 with the normally lifting mechanism and has an electric motor 20 grantee I separate contacts 172, thereby iii-cams the circuit through the circuit controller t, causing'its deenergization and a resultant opening of the v 'switch, which discontinues the motor and electhem inactive. Thus the motor will stop at this tromagnet circuits, thereby rendering both of predetermined point and the coupling 30 will again be moved out of operative engagement with aslts prime mover. The electric motor as operrites asa powerful series motor when turning the screw shaft 25 in the one direction so that the traveling nut 26 thereon will move upwardly to lift the load. This same motor 20 operates as a, shunt motor to turn the screw shaftziin the opposite direction so thatthe nut 25 moves dowm wardly thereon to lower the load. The tendency of the load on the nut is to cause the nut to drive the shaft 25 at an increasing speed as it moves downwardly on said shaft. The motor when acting as a shunt motor, if driven by the traveling nut 26 through the shaft 25, coupling 38 and motor shaft 23 at an excessive speed will, when reaching a predetermined speed, function as a generator, setting up a counterelectromotive force within the motor, tending to retard the movement of the electric motor and thus maintaining it within a predetermined safe operating speed the driving disc 24 and into gripping engagement with the brake ring 33 to hold the shaft 25 against rotation particularly under theefiect of the loadupon the nut 26.

It will be seen from the above that the entire resistance of both windings a: and 42 of the else- With all the elements of the apparatus in operative position, if the operator wishes to cause the motor 28 to operate so that the shaft 25 is turned to raise the nut 26 and lift the load, he operates the selector switch it so that it will engage the stationary contact ii. New current from the storage battery may flow through switch.

it, its contact ii across contacts '82 of limit switch 73 through the electromagnet winding 5% back to the battery via ground'connections. Energization of the magnet winding dd will cause the solenoid magnet 5 .tobe attracted and moved upwardly so that bridging elements 52 and t3 engage their respective stationary contacts. v New current from the storage battery dii flows to stationary contact 58 across bridging member 53 to stationary contact 51 thence to the field winding 2| across the armature circuit of the motor 2G to the ground and back to the battery. Current will circuit 2| at point, 2|a, the stationary contact 55 of the circuit controller 50 across the bridging element 52 to the stationary contact 5% thence through the connected fine and heavy winding convolutions 42 and 4| of the magnet winding through the wire Hill to 4|] of the electromagnet backto the battery via the ground connections.

With the 'above circuits completed it will be seen that the motor connections are completed to cause the motor 20 to function as a series motor an at the same time the elecromagnet windings 40 f the electromagnet are energized to magnetizedriving disc 24 of the motor 20. With the energization of the driving disc 24, coupling so on shaft 25 will be drawn into operative engagement with said disc and with the brake ring 33. As the coupling engages the driving disc 24, now being rotated by the series motor 20, the shaft 25 will be rotated so that the nut 26 will start its upward movement. its the nut moves upwardly it will disengage witch I6, normally engaged and opened by the ut at its bottom position, and as soon as the nut r aches a, predetermined position in its movement "inwardly, it will engage the limit a through the motorwinding 2 tromagnet winding assembly is introduced in circuit with the series field winding 2| of the electhe motor 20 as it operates as a series motor. Thesewindings 4| and I2 and 2| are relatively so designed that the electric motor 20 operates at a predetermined speed as apowerf ul series motor to turn the screw shaft 25 for purposes of lifting a comparatively heavy load suchusthedanding gear of an airplane or the like.

To lower the load the operator actuates the selector switch 10 into its other circuit closing position so that it engages contact l4 whereby a circuit through the electromagnet winding 64 of the circuit controller 60 is effected across the con- ,tact I5 of the limit switch 16. Now the circuit controller 60 is energized so that its bridging elements 62 and 63 will close the following circuitsz-from the battery 83 across contacts 51 and 68 via bridging element 62 and wire M6 to the point 2 la thence directly across the armature circuit of the motor 20 back to thebattery via ground. From thegpointZ i a nurrent will also flow i1 thence through wirelili across contacts 65 and at via the bridging element 62 thence through wire W2, motor field winding 22, wire ice to the juncture point we and then through the heavywire convolutions M back to the battery via ground. It will be noted that the fine wire convolutions d2 of a the electromagnet winding dd are not in circuit at out of gripping engagement I the fiow of current through the winding 2| in a direction opposite that during the operation of the motor as a series motor previously described.

As the motor rotates the shaft 25 in this opposite direction the nut 26 will move downwardly to lower the load, permitting the contacts |2 ofthe limit switch 13 to again close. With the load upon the downwardly moving nut 26 there will be a tendency to accelerate the rotation of a the shaft 25 in this direction. If such acceleration is not controlled, it would reach an undesirable and unsafe speed, causing damage to the mechanism. However, at a predetermined increased speed the motor 20, now driven by the loaded nut 26, will begin to function as a shunt generator, setting up counterelectromotive forces therein which will counteract driving efforts of the motor and cause the motor to act as a dynamo brake, thus controlling or more specifically resisting the turning effect of the loaded nut upon the shaft 25. When the nut 26 reaches a predetermined position in its downward moveswitch it to wmcnt itwill engage limit switch'lt to open con- 

